Friday's Fave Five - 9/17

Be sure to check over at Living to Tell the Story to join up.

One - Getting back in the school groove. This week was a rather busy out of the house week for us but it was also the first week of "official" school I had planned. We were suppose to be gone this weekend on a long field trip out of state, but circumstances changed so we had to postpone for a bit. I still had lots of other things planned for the boys those. We did a Fine Arts co-op with my sister, started piano lessons for all (including me!), and had our first official "Co-Op" day. Phew! It's been a busy and full week.

Two - piano lessons! Did I mention we all started piano lessons this week? I'm so very, very happy. I once played when I was younger. I took lessons when I was five, but did not bother to learn the notes. I played by the fingering. Well, obviously my teacher figured this out and switched my book to one with out fingering. At five years old I deemed it too hard and quit lessons. I still remember hiding out in the bathroom while my mother told my teacher! Fast forward to fifth grade and I joined the school band. I learned to read notes and played the clarinet. I started messing around on the piano at home and soon started picking out little tunes with my right hand reading the treble clef. I was hopeless on the bass clef though so I asked to take lessons again a couple years later. I called the same teacher I had quit a few years before and she took me back for the summers only for a couple years. By the time I was in high school, I had earned a school year slot. I loved playing and found it very relaxing. Unfortunately, when I graduated high school I never played the piano or my beloved clarinet again. I miss making music so I'm beyond thrilled to have started back. The boys are even enjoying it. B14 didn't want to take lessons, but he's practicing every day without issue and even sometimes twice a day!

Three - Fall days. I love fall. Love it.  Love it. Love it! I love the cool evenings. I love the crisp days. The smell. The colors. Everything. It's my favorite season of all. I love taking walks with the boys - no bugs and cool air make for wonderful fall walks here in Maine. The joy of this season gets me through our long winters.

Four - Field Trips. I love field trips. I love taking my boys places where they can experience life around them. Our co-op this fall is studying the great state of Maine. This is a requirement for children in grades seven and up (to be completed once in those grades). I'm trying to add in lots of field trips that tie in to this subject. 

Five - Picnik.com. While I know there are some really great photo processing programs on the market, I simply love Picnik. It's a free one on the net. Paid subscriptions are available and I've been toying with upgrading to that now for a while. I took the boys on a really fun field trip last weekend. Halfway through it I realized my white balance was set for tungsten light. Ahhhhh! Everything turned out with a blue cast to it. I wasn't sure I could fix it with Picnik. I just realized that I can! Happy Day!